Furball Aero-Design 48-023: Air Wing All Stars (Super Hornets Part 1)

Here is another superb set from Furball Aero-Design. This set is for the F-18E and F-18F. It is sized for the Hasegawa kits, but if you can deal with the difference in fin sizes, you may be able to adapt this one to the Revell/Monogram offering. I'm not sure who else does the Super Hornet in this scale, though perhaps Italeri did one as well.

The set includes markings for five aircraft, and it seems like Super Hornet camo colors are in a bit of a flux. Some planes are in the lighter and older shade of FS 36320 over FS 36375, the same scheme as the 'legacy' Hornets. These two colors are quite close to each other and some modelers will darken the upper shade to make it more prominent. Others are in the darker scheme of FS 35237 over FS 36320. The set includes enough insignia to do four of the options and it looks like there are enough data markings and other bits to do two full aircraft. You can always use kit decals if you wish to do more. The instructions include a full placement guide to help you along with this.

First up is the lone F-18E on the sheet. This is with VX-9 based at China Lake. The 'Vampires' are a combination of two units, VX-4 and VX-5 that occured back in the 1990s during the post Desert Storm drawdown. This is is the fancy bird with the upper spine and tail painted in black. This includes the inner portion of the fins. The big white stars fit this one. Sorry, no Playboy bunny any more. This one is in the lighter greys of FS 36320 over FS 36375.

The other VX-9 option is an F-18F in a less colorful scheme. What this one does have is all the areas in black on the previous option are painted in FS 35237. All the other markings are in shades of grey.

Our third options is an anniversary scheme from VFA-103. This is the unit which has carried on the 'Jolly Rogers' tradition and celebrates the 70th anniversary of the squadron in 2013. This has the usual black bits on the fins and the upper canopy surround that is standard fare for CAG birds. Note that the aft portion of the rudders are not painted over . This is in the darker scheme.

Fourth up is an F-18F from the USN Test Pilot School at Pax River in 2013. These planes used to be overall white with the nice red stripes, but any more, they are camouflaged just like fleet planes and in the darker scheme.

The final option is pretty bland for an anniversary plane. This one celebrates the 25th anniversary of the NSAWC at NAS Fallon with little more than a small badge on the inside of the fin. It is in the darker scheme.

The instruction are quite large and provide you with complete placement information. The decals themselves are superbly printed by Cartograf, one of the best in the business.

December 2014

Review sheet courtesy of http://furballaero-design.com. You can get yours now at this link.

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